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About Me

Hi! My name is Qadoshyah and I'm the oldest of 11 kids. I live on a ranch in the beautiful country of Northeastern Oklahoma with my family. We are a large household with so many kids that we have various projects going on: We raise goats, pigs, sheep, and rabbits (I raise the rabbits - cute little mini lops) on our 44 acre ranch. Our ranch is also home to bullmastiffs, chickens, guinea hens, ducks, llamas, a donkey, a bottle calf, and several ranch dogs and livestock guardian dogs. The youngest two kids are boy/girl twins born in Feb. '05. The boy happens to have Down syndrome. He is such a blessing to our family :)! Our whole family is also gluten-free, which adds another interesting aspect to our large, active family. We also cook dairy-free & corn-free due to allergies a few kids have. Some of the family is also on the GAPS diet to restore gut health.

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Sunday, November 20, 2011

A question that I have thought many times, and was also recently asked is, "Why is Glutathione low when Cysteine (a component which makes up Glutathione) is in excess in DS?"

It's a good question. And a hard one at that!

Bottom line - No one really understands it all the way. But, this is what is understood:

There is excess cysteine due to the overexpressed CBS gene. Then there is also the overexpressed SOD1 gene causing a 50% increase in oxidative stress/free radicals. This increase in oxidative stress seems to cause a decrease in Glutathione, as there are not enough antioxidants (Glutathione being one of them) to match the amount of oxidative stress and free radicals which are present.

Plasma levels of cystathionine and cysteine were significantly
increased, consistent with an increase in CBS activity. Plasma
glutathione levels were significantly reduced in the children with DS
and may reflect an increase in oxidative stress due to the
overexpression of the superoxide dismutase gene, also located on
chromosome 21.